Page 69 of Marked By Shadows

“Let’s go get food,” I said and tugged him toward the door.

“And Iron Cosplay. Dun dun da-duhn….”

“I think that noise is more indicative of a crime tv show.”

“Okay well I’ve never actually watched Iron Chef. Is there a secret to winning Iron Cosplay? Wonder what the prizes are.”

“Freya usually has good stuff. I won a computer one year. In fact, my MacBook,” I pointed to the computer sitting on the table, which I still had and used to this day. “Four years ago or so, I won it in an Iron Cosplay.”

“Okay now I’m superhyped. I won’t be much of an asset though, since I don’t know a lot about sewing costumes. Maybe I’ll just watch,” Alex said suddenly looking very worried.

“We are usually in teams. However, it’s often not teams of our choice.”

He stared at me. “Fuck. Means I probably won’t get to team with you.”

“Probably not. But you can sew straight lines just fine. And you have ideas. That helps. The key is to think simple. Don’t pick some crazy hard costume idea like Cloud from Final Fantasy. The simpler the outfit, the more time you can spend getting it to look legit.” I lead him out of the house and across the path to the back of the main house. Everyone was already gathering.

“Legit. Man, I wish I were more up on what’s popular right now in anime.”

“Doesn’t have to just be anime. Think games, cartoons, even movies. One-year Chad was a Minion. It was a hoot. He looked more like a giant Twinkie, but the effect was there.” I stepped into the kitchen where there was a bustle of activity. Grace was handing out trays of dough. A long line of toppings were set out on a table, then each one going into the oven. “Do you know what a Minion is?”

“We watched that in the psych ward,” Alex said. “Goofy things with like one eye, working for the weird bald guy who turns out to be a big softy for kids.”

“Yep, that’s it.”

“I could probably be a Twinkie. Saw banana Twinkies at the grocery store recently. Wonder if those are any good.”

“I’ll buy you a box and more bananas after we leave the convention tomorrow. We’ll stop on the way back to restock our kitchen,” I promised.

“Hmm, banana,” Alex moaned almost sounding sexual.

“What were you up to out there, sleepyheads?” Chad said from his spot in line. “You feel better?” He asked me.

“Yes. Much. Don’t mind the weirdness of my boyfriend. He’s low on potassium so he dreams of bananas.” I accepted a plate of ready to top dough from Grace and found a place in line, Alex following behind me.

“I dream of your banana too,” Alex said with a straight face, his gaze focused on the table full of toppings. They had a great variety, tons of meat, a half dozen types of sauce, ones with dairy clearly labeled, and a long row of veggies. No bananas.

“You can have my banana later,” I said.

He blinked at me like it took a minute to process, but grinned. “And your donut hole.”

“I don’t want to know, do I?” Chad said.

“You really don’t,” I agreed.

“Ever read a gay romance?” Alex asked him. “It’s eye opening to say the least. I think I’m supposed to be sexing him up more often, but he hasn’t protested yet. Some of the novels I read have sex every twenty pages.”

“Sounds exhausting,” Chad remarked.

“Right? I’m not as young as I used to be. But even then, not sure I had the energy for that.” Alex said as he began to build his pizza. “Craft,” he waved at me with a spoon. “Fill your pizza with worldly delights.”

“He’s funny when he’s had sleep,” Chad said.

“He’s funny all right.” I made a face at Alex, not something I normally did, but crossed my eyes and stuck out my tongue. Alex copied me, making an even funnier face with his eyebrows askew. “Stop, you brat,” I laughed.

“Yeah, yeah. Food then craziness.”

“Oh my God,” Chad said. “You’re going to be one of those cosplay partners aren’t you?”